Mélanie Saulnier, Necmi Aksoy, Claire Arnold
et al.
The European yew (Taxus baccata L.) is a long-lived conifer of ecological, cultural, and historical importance across Eurasia. Despite its remarkable resilience, wide distribution, and symbolic importance, the species has experienced a long-term decline due to a complex interplay of climatic fluctuations, megafaunal extinctions, human exploitation, and insufficient regeneration. Recent studies in palaeoecology, archaeology, dendroecology, and conservation have revealed a species with greater ecological plasticity and a broader historical distribution than previously assumed. However, many fundamental questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding its biogeographical history, population dynamics, recruitment processes, and the drivers of its decline.This review stems from prior investigations of yew in the French Pyrenees and, more broadly, across Europe. These efforts led to a transdisciplinary seminar and opened a collaboration uniting >30 researchers across Eurasia. By synthesizing a wide array of data and perspectives, the article highlights key knowledge gaps and outlines emerging research priorities. These are organized thematically—past, present, and future—and include 25 questions on the species' ecological niche, life-history strategies, human interactions, genetic resilience, and conservation under global change. The article advocates for a shift towards integrative and long-term conservation strategies that embrace the historical legacies of yew populations, the general ecology of the species along with local ecological context dependence, and the urgency of future threats. By identifying pressing research needs, this review seeks to lay the foundation for new collaborative initiatives and to support evidence-based conservation of this emblematic yet understudied species.
Refugees, often deeply affected by (inter)national conflicts, are known to face dehumanization. Portraying them as successful reduces dehumanization in heterogeneous societies like the United States or the United Kingdom. To examine the effects of success in a homogeneous society with a recent rise of incoming refugees, we conducted three studies in Poland. In Study 1 (N = 249), successful refugees were seen as more agentic and human, but also more threatening, a factor that decreased their perceived humanness. Study 2 (N = 272) showed that success in a non-threatening context improved perceptions of agency and humanness. Study 3 (N = 343) found that reminding Poles of their migration history further enhanced refugee humanization. Overall, portraying refugees as successful increased their perceived agency and humanness, especially in a non-threatening or common historical context.
One aspect of the Anglo-American military aid to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease Act during World War II was the supply of several types of vessels that became part of the Red Fleet. In addition, the supplies included arms, engines, power generators, and components of naval equipment. The supplies significantly strengthened the Soviet Navy, both during and after the war.
The article discusses the main viewpoints of the Russian historian and philologist Anton S. Budilovich on the Polish question in Russia. Budilovich was a dynamic personality and, at the same time, a prominent philologist, historian, publicist, and above all, an excellent administrator of science and education. The name Budilovich was widely known in the educated circles of contemporary society. He spent his entire life working in educational institutions in St. Petersburg, Nezhin, Warsaw, and Yuryev. Budilovich acquired work in the Russifi cation of Warsaw and Yuryev universities. The scholar’s views are considered against the background of the position generally inherent in Russian historiography. The topics studied by Budilovich were closely connected with the history of the Orthodox lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Western Russian (Belarusian and Ukrainian) issue. The scientifi c and socio-political views of Budilovich were influenced by both the nature of his education and the socio-political environment of what was then Western Russia. In general, Budilovich’s historical polonistics fully corresponded to the fundamental ideas of Russian historical polonistics of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: conservative and Slavophile in nature, and mostly anti-Western. The most important attribute of Slavic unity for Budilovich was
the religious community of the Slavs and their common language. Orthodoxy seemed to him the foundation on which the Slavs exclusively could preserve their own identity. He explained Russia’s mission in Poland to be motivated by its desire to save the Poles from the Germanization that threatened them and to “bring to life” Polish moral and intellectual forces. The scholar was one of the last adherents of the Slavophile approach to history and a supporter of pan-Slavic ideas.
Philology. Linguistics, Slavic languages. Baltic languages. Albanian languages
This article attempts to draw a general outline of comparative Central and Eastern European sociology. It focuses on the year 1918, when the Great War ended, and it explores the background and continuation of the (re)birth of sociology. The study is justified by the fact that the history of the national schools of sociology has been approached in correlation with Western centres, and therefore a regional approach is needed. First, the study differentiates between countries that were allied to the victorious powers in the First World War and countries that lost the war, between countries where sociology gained momentum and countries where science suffered. In the countries that were at an advantage – Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Serbia –, sociology was at very different stages of institutionalization, but it registered significant progress until the 30s. The countries that lost – Bulgaria, Russia, and Hungary – were not only more weakened after the war but also plagued by revolutions, civil wars, and retaliations; they were not a fertile ground for sociological production. Apart from Russia, it is only in the 1930s that sociology started to considerably develop in these countries. The article does not only compare the status of sociology in the seven countries, but it also explores the evolution of the relationships between them. After an understandable dependence on the Western academic centres, there was the possibility for a regional identity to form.
On Two Civilizations in Michał Pawlikowski’s Thought
Michał Pawlikowski (1887–1970) was a Polish essayist, poet, publisher, editor, and bibliophile. Since World War I, he was an activist of the National Democratic Party (later the National Party). After World War II, he settled in Great Britain, temporarily staying in Zakopane, Poland. Pawlikowski is the author of essays and journalism, where he collected his philosophical views on nation and culture, as well as on civilization and race. He sought cause and effect relationships in the history of humanity as factors that shaped the contemporary world. In his opinion, the world is divided between two mutually antagonistic civilizations: Western and Eastern. Such a perspective of his thought has been inscribed in Polish wider reflection on the nation. It is close to messianic concepts that were held by Romantic thinkers and artists, while at the same time it contains tints of national megalomania. His writings can be termed controversial and are often characterized as being full of discrepancies, as well as simplifying a number of complex issues; in particular, in his opponents’ views Pawlikowski’s thought is too close to conspiracy theory of history. Alternatively Pawlikowski deserves recognition for his depictions of man as a free human being who has a potential to make individual choices in accordance with ethical ideals and obligations towards the community.
Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology, Political science
Deepwater Container Terminal Gdańsk (DCT Gdańsk) is located in the southern part of the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Gdańsk and is an important element of the trans-European Bal- tic–Adriatic transport corridor. It is the only deep-water terminal (up to 17 m) in the Baltic Sea Region having direct ocean vessel calls from the Far East. The terminal handles Polish import and export, transshipment and transit. Its high competitive position in Central and Eastern Europe is due primarily to its easy nautical accessibility and year-round ice-free ac- cess (location at the estuary) combined with operational excellence. The article presents the origins, development and operational activity of the Gdańsk terminal. In the analytical part of the text, information provided by DCT Gdańsk, Eurostat data as well as industry reports by Lloyds List, Port Monitor or Container Management were used. Thanks to the results of the analysis one may conclude that the Port of Gdańsk (DCT included) will strengthen its competitive position both on the European and global market of container shipping in the near future.
Naval Science, History (General) and history of Europe
In the years 2020–2021, Łódź and other surrounding cities will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the decisions made by the authorities of the Kingdom of Poland, aimed at the industrialization of this part of Polish territory. Some of these urban centers, such as Lodz, have been successful, while most of them have not been able to develop industrially. Witold Kula, an excellent researcher of socio-economic history, wrote about these issues. So far this work has not been published and thanks to the help of prof. Marcin Kula, the author’s son, was published in a journal.
W. Kula decided to analyze the economic and social condition of the cities located within the Łódźand Łęczyca poviats (according to the administrative status of 1921). Therefore, he was interested in the area subjected to industrialization and protection policy by the authorities of the Kingdom of Poland under the Act of Governor Józef Zajączek of 1820. The author was looking for an answer to the fundamental question which of the cities located in this area were also in the legal sense and in economic terms, and which and from an economic point of view, they did not differ from the status of a village? The conclusions and reflections contained in the work cover a long chronological period, starting from 1807 and ending with 1869, i.e. from the moment of placing Polish cities under the administration of a modern bureaucratic national magistracy, to the year in which the tsarist decree was issued to rename some settlements. cities in the governorates of the Kingdom of Poland.
The subject of this work were 13 cities, namely: Grabów, Kazimierz (Łęczycki), Łęczyca, Łódź, Parzęczew, Piątek, Rzgów, Tuszyn and Zgierz, and the cities elevated to the rank of cities during the Congress Kingdom: Ozorków (1816), Aleksandrów and Poddębice (1822), Konstantynów (1830). After the reform of 1869–1870, only four of them remained towns: Łęczyca, Łódź, Ozorków and Zgierz. In implementing the theme, W. Kula assumed the following stages: “1. Overview of the basic and existing definitions of the term «city»; 2. on this basis, determining the basic economic and demographic characteristics of the city, and thus the qualification criteria of the city; 3. establishing the facts corresponding to the successful qualification criteria in individual cities in a particular period of time”. The author did not intend to issue “a firm sentence on each of the examined cities, granting or denying it the right to the” title “of the city in the economic sense. More important for him was to “establish the actual state of affairs corresponding to individual criteria, the state which, using these criteria, will sometimes lead us to various conclusions”.
The work of W. Kula was based on a variety of source material, primarily the resources of the then pre-war archives, which were partially lost as a result of the tragic consequences of the Second World War. Hence, this monograph is also extremely important because it provides contemporary researchers with invaluable source material for further analyzes of the history of the cities of the Łódź region. More than a hundred tables included in the work by W. Kula with various and valuable statistical data will help in this.
The monograph published in print consists of an extensive part called Introduction, divided into two chapters, the first of which is entitled Issue, and the second - Sources and studies, and two parts. The first part is entitled The economic content of the term “city” and is also divided into the following two chapters: Existing definitions of the term “city” and Eligibility criteria for urban settlements. On the other hand, the second, entitled Socio-economic character of cities in the Łęczyca and Łódź poviats, is the main part of the monograph with a source analysis of 13 cities and towns under consideration. It opens with Introductory remarks, followed by an alphabetical list of the aforementioned urban centers in terms of economic and social aspects in the following 13 sections. The work is supplemented by a bibliographic list and a list of abbreviations.
The editors of the journal made only minor interference in the work by correcting typos and the so-called Czech errors, as well as by modernizing the spelling and the scientific apparatus of the monograph (in the notation of footnotes and bibliographic items), e.g. by supplementing some items, introducing currently used abbreviations, etc. Moreover, the bibliographic list that opened the work in the manuscript was moved to its end. However, no linguistic and stylistic corrections were made to reflect the character of the writing style and the way of expressing thoughts as accurately as possible by W. Kula, then a young adept of the historical guild.
History of Poland, Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
The article presents results of a ground penetrating radar (GPR)
investigation carried out in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary in Kłodzko, Poland, dating from the 14th to 16th
centuries. Due to the 20th century wars, the current state of knowledge
about the history of the church is still poor. Under the floor of the
Catholic temple, unknown structures might exist. To verify the presence of
underground structures such as crypts and tombs, a GPR survey was carried
out in chapels and aisles with 500 and 800 MHz GPR shielded antennas.
Numerous anomalies were detected. It was concluded that those under the
chapels were caused by the presence of crypts beneath the floor.
Anna Książek, Aleksandra Zagrodna, Małgorzata Słowińska-Lisowska
et al.
Background
Numerous studies have shown the associations between different dietary patterns and semen quality in a male population. There is no evidence on the relationship between dietary intake and markers of male fertility potential. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary nutrients intake and semen quality parameters among healthy men from Lower Silesia (a region of Poland).
Methods
We enrolled 177 healthy young men aged 18-35 years from a genetically homogenous population of Lower Silesia (a region of Poland). Those who responded to the invitations were asked to complete the questionnaires covering: medical history and nutritional habits (last 5-day recall diary). The semen samples were analysed with use of the Sperm Class Analyser.
Results
We did show a statistically significant positive correlation between the intake of saturated, monounsaturated fatty acids and immotility. The results also demostared a statistically significant positive correlation between energy derived from fat and immotility and rapid (a) and slow (b) progressive motility. We did show a statistically negative correlation between the energy value of the diet and sperm concentration, energy derived from the consumption of carbohydrates and semen volume, consistency and the energy derived from the consumption of fat and sperm consistency and immotility.
Conclusion
Based on our studies we concluded that further research is needed to confirm these findings and extend these results to other populations.
Investigated are preconditions, course and results of a scientific trip of academician A. D. Kovalenko to Poland on January 16 - February 5, 1958. Carried out is a review of historiography and defined is a source base of the study. Analyzed are documents from the personal archival fonds of A. D. Kovalenko, H. M. Savin, Yu. O. Mytropolskyi, deposited in the Institute of Archival Studies VNLU. It was found out that the trip was of great importance for the establishment and further development of close cooperation between the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and leading scientific and educational centers of Poland in the field of mechanics, for research in Ukraine of achievements of foreign machine tool and instrument making industries, the development by Ukrainian academic institutions of the market of high-tech scientific products in Poland. Noted is a high informative potential of personal archival fonds of outstanding scientists of Ukraine as a source of research of the history of international scientific cooperation.
Culture and its creators are the driving force of social development. The paper presents the history of financing the culture over the last three hundred years and looks at the cultural policy adopted in Poland. Traditional and modern forms of supporting cultural activities are also discussed therein, also the situation of artists on the labour market in Poland and the possibilities of future change. The fundamental questions asked by the authors are: what is the future of financing cultural activities in Poland?; how important is culture in contemporary society?; will systemic changes be introduced? The aim of the paper is to provide answers to these questions through analysis of sociological sources and reports on the current situation of artists in Poland, and to highlight the dynamics of financing culture and its creators.
This work is about the newspaper Hazefirah, especially the place given to the Hebrew literature. Hazefirah, published from 1862 to 1931, is the first newspaper in Hebrew language in Poland.Our work has two distinct parts: the first one is the history of the newspaper; the second one is about the celebration of the seventy-fifth birthday of the Hebrew and Yiddish writer Mendele Mokher Sefarim. The study shows the important place of literature in the newspaper and the richness of the literary life of the Jewish community in Poland.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme has been introduced in the Central and Eastern European countries since the beginning of the 1990s. Developed in the 1960s by the International Baccalaureate Organisation in Geneva, it became since then an important part of the world educational system. The number of schools authorised by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) has increased considerably. This paper aims to present the history of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in nine countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia).